HonestJohn.co.uk reveals the UK’s endangered cars

Top British family cars will become ‘extinct’

Consumer motoring champion HonestJohn.co.uk has revealed that many of the UK’s once popular family cars are on the verge of disappearing completely. When you read some of the model names, memory kicks in and everyone remembers someone who used to drive one or had one parked on their own drive.

Many of us will recall the fashionable cars of the eighties, the Austin Metro was a common sight on our roads and also enjoyed celebrity status as it was the car that Princess Diana drove when she married Prince Charles in 1981, and many a photo was taken with her behind the wheel. The Metro was also the driving choice for the driving school BSM. There were 1.5 million Austin Metro’s produced between 1981-1991 and now there are only eight hundred and thirty two recorded that are either taxed or on SORN.

Another firm favourite was the Ford Cortina; this was the UK’s bestselling car between 1973 and 1980. Over four million were produced but now we are down to approximately 5411. It was the favourite sales rep car of that time and made an appearance in the Life on Mars TV drama in 2007.

The ‘Top 20 Endangered Cars’ research by Honestjohn.co.uk involved examining DVLA records of classic cars (those cars registered between 1950 and 1995) to find out how many were still registered today (both on the road and SORN) compared to the amount originally built. The results are published at classics.honestjohn.co.uk this is a newly launched site that contains a wealth of research and information about classic cars.

Keith Adams, Editor of Honest John Classics, said 'this list of endangered cars is fascinating, pretty much all of them littered the UK roads as recently as ten years ago and now you’ll be lucky to spot them at a classic car meeting. The low survival rate for these models is shocking. 1980s cars are particularly vulnerable because their passage into popular classic status is yet to happen and their disappearance has been hastened by needless scrappage and artificially low market values in recent years.'

Other endangered former family cars include the Ford Sierra and the Rover SD1; the Austin Allegro has suffered the largest decline with only two hundred and ninety one remaining. This is closely following by the Hillman Avenger the Vauxhall Viva and the Morris Marina.